Records management is a formal structured process of preserving needed content and destroying content that is no longer needed. The records management process allows an entity to demonstrate, e.g., for legal purposes, that any action taken to destroy or delete documents (or any other records) is (or was) performed in good faith. A traditional records management system may maintain electronic and physical records. For example, electronic records may represent documents (e.g., e-mails, word processor documents, and the like) maintained by the records management system. Further, enterprises often maintain large warehouses storing physical media, such as paper correspondence, microfilm, tapes, and the like. The records management system may include electronic records that reference the physical media items. The records may include pointer metadata corresponding to the physical media. An electronic record that references a physical media item may include metadata describing the item.
Further, the proliferation of electronic records has created a large data “warehouse” that an enterprise may need to maintain. To manage records, an enterprise may define retention policies that allow the records management system to identify when a record is to be destroyed. The retention policies specify a period for maintaining records in the system. The records management system may pass records to be destroyed to a deletion workflow. The deletion workflow includes a review step, where an assigned reviewer approves or rejects the destruction of records before the records are actually destroyed. If appropriate, records that the reviewer rejects may be placed on hold or updated to avoid destruction. The approved records are then destroyed.